Yes, a scheduling supervisor went on record saying they can't see VAS pilots who are in position and available, so it was too difficult to use.

Meanwhile management wants to scrutinize how we use our earned sick time.

 

I might be wrong here, and maybe a SWA guy can affirm, but I don't think even SWA management types can look at their sick time usage.

 

It’s been going on since September. Easily cost me over $50k. We said $100k per year pay cut.

My guess is I start getting a 2 day quick slip every single month going forward. If this is the case, then I had every right to complain. If not, then the losses are theoretical.

 

I'm calling BS on the posters saying they're losing a substantial amount of money to the OOBWS/IA fiasco. I see IAs going all over the place. Up, down, left, and right. They are decidedly NOT going only to junior pilots in any category. BS. I'm not saying it's not a problem, but it's not "costing" any appreciable number of pilots a substantial portion of their salary. And either way, last time I checked, a junior pilot's WS comes before a senior pilot's GS. So there is no world in which seniority is being usurped.

 

tell me you don’t understand the issue without telling me you don’t understand the issue…

 

You are wrong. I personally have never gotten an IA. I literally started a thread on how to get one. I used to get a GS per month until September. I was 8 for 8 in first 8 months of last year. 12 for 12 in previous year.

I guarantee you won’t see a single pilot get QS 6 or 7. My guess is you won’t see anyone get #3. A few pilots in each category will probably get 2. Meanwhile, every month certain pilots were getting 6-7 IA’s. If this is the case, it will just show how messed up the system was.

 

Your logic is flawed. Hockey is 100% right on this one. I haven't been able to snag an IA in the current climate yet, and haven't gotten a GS in at least 6 months, when I could reliably get at LEAST a 1-day every month before. The problem is IA's go out without rhyme or reason to them, there is no order - unlike GS.

So yes, it IS costing that kind of money over what they otherwise would have expected to get. QS can't come quickly enough.

 

anybody planning to do some forensics on how some of our fellow union members ended up with IA3/4/5/6?

 

I've never flown an IA at the company, nor do I participate in "farming." That said, I could have been more precise. The problem is the characterization that it's junior's fault, when it belongs squarely with the company. But, if you want to be technical about it, then the way things were previously - for you - was the anomaly. Yes, you were getting X # of GS / mo...when pilots were not putting in massive numbers of OOBWS to gum up the system. Nothing has changed in the contract though. People just woke up to a niche detail within the contract and started exploiting it for their gain.

The BS part is certain pilots being OK with trashing the entire coverage ladder to ensure that they get *theirs*. I want QS here as fast as possible, too. It's likely that scheds can tell who is on the line and are able to choose the pilot who will disrupt / cost the system the least. I want it back to an ordered process ASAP.

In the end, what QS will really accomplish for the pilot group is guaranteeing that no commuter EVER gets a GS. That's a problem.

 

I would love to know how the company can fix this within the realm of the PWA with 140 OOBWS with AA on for every base. The math doesn’t work.

We can have double the amount of pilots and it wouldn’t fix that. Planes still break, weather mucks up network. Somehow trips still need to be covered.